ABOUT NORTHERN KING

In 1984, Patsy Distaffen created the original Northern King spoon. A tool and die specialist with Xerox and an avid hunter and fisherman, Patsy found his passion making fishing lures when he founded Northern King. He recognized the need for a trolling lure that wouldn’t spin while being trolled at higher speeds. He spent countless hours refining the shape and details behind his incredibly successful lure design.

“When we cleaned out my parent's house, in every single room, every single floor, there was files… because he was always tinkering with dies or the lures or something. We had shoeboxes full of files.” Says daughter Beverly Cahill.

The Northern King lure grabbed the attention of many charter boat captains and derby fisherman on Lake Ontario. Patsy was able to talk to anyone and would talk your ear off about fishing. By word of mouth, Patsy went from producing 20,000 lures a year to 150,000 in full time production by 1988. It enjoyed many years of success under Pat’s leadership.

“When my dad died, it was his passion. All of us kids knew how to make the lures, we knew his customer base, could take orders, ship orders, but we didn’t have that passion to keep designing the way he did.” Says Beverly.In 2016, Northern King was purchased by Thompson-Pallister Bait Co. Ltd.; the Canadian manufacturers of Len Thompson Lures. As a fourth generation family business, Thompson-Pallister Bait Co. was thrilled to acquire a company with similar values. “Len Thompson, our great grandfather, also created his own unique fishing spoon which turned into a successful legacy brand.” Quotes Brad Pallister, President.

The company has purchased the Northern King brand name and, most importantly, all of the original die sets which mold the unique shape of each Northern King spoon. “We will be bringing back a small selection colour patterns to start available Summer 2017.” Says Brad.

Each new Northern King lure will be Canadian manufactured in Lacombe, Alberta using quality components including strong stainless steel split rings, Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp hooks and environmentally friendly, durable paints.

Patsy Distaffen - Creator of Northern King Lures

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Are you the original Northern King (NK)?

Northern King started in Rochester, New York by Patsy Distaffen in the early 1980s. We purchased the company from the Distaffen family in 2016 acquiring the Northern King name, all other intellectual property and all of Patsy's original and proprietary die sets that form the shape of each Northern King spoon! Learn more.

What makes a Northern King spoon so effective?

Patsy developed a spoon design that maintained its action at a wide effective speed range making it perfect for trolling for Lakers and Salmon. Genuine silver plating was also a key component. Silver can be seen at a greater depth than other metals meaning better flash and ultimately, improved fishability.

The other secret? Quality workmanship. Each lure is manufactured in Canada using American components including strong stainless steel split rings, Eagle Claw Lazer Sharp hooks and environmentally friendly water based paints.

I don't see my favourite pattern... Will you be launching more?

​We will absolutely be introducing more patterns as we work to build a larger assortment over the next few years. We started with the classics in our three most popular sizes**; NK MAG, NK 28 and NK 4D and are relying on dealer and customer feedback to decide on what to launch next. If you have a particular request please let us know! You can contact us directly or share you insight and photos onFacebook.

**Although we did acquire the original die sets for other NK sizes (including the sought after NK M80, NK 22 and NK C5) we have not committed to re-launching other sizes yet. We are first focusing on our colour assortment and improving distribution.